This invention pertains to hinges in general and more particularly to a hinge for use on a burial casket which is adapted to couple a cover to a container in either of two alternate mountings.
A casket shell generally comprises a container or body part and a lid hingedly coupled thereto. The lid may comprise a single piece, or be of the two part, half-shell type.
Manufacture of the casket shell includes forming the casket body and lid, affixation of the necessary and desired hardware (hinges, etc.), and surface heating of the casket shell. The container and lid are usually composed of one of various grades of steel, zinc, copper, or bronze. Surface treating of the casket shell commonly includes the steps of painting, lacquering, then baking. As can be appreciated from the numerous steps involved and the care taken in surface treatment of a casket shell, such emphasis is placed upon surface appearance in the burial casket manufacturing industry.
It is desired to surface treat an entire casket shell as a unit to insure uniform treatment and to reduce the costs of surface treatment. In present surface treatment processes the casket lid is rotated to an open position and the lid and container surfaces are treated. At the hinge and at the areas where one shell component is located proximate to another, experience has shown that surface treatment of the casket shell is very difficult.
Cracking and breaking of paint and lacquer at points where one member of the casket contacts, or comes very close to another member of the casket, is common when using conventional casket hinges. In addition, after painting a casket shell, paint which has been applied to the surface of one member will adhere to the surface of an adjoining contacting member resulting in damage to the painted finish. In addition, good baking at this location is usually not possible thus limiting the quality of surface appearance and longevity of the surface finish.
As can be seen from the above, in order to enable uniform surface treatment of a casket lid and base without cracking about points where one casket lid touches another a solution to the above-noted problem is necessary.